AN: I wrote this after reading chapters 423 and 424 of the manga. Anyone who has not read chapter 424 is advised to read no further.

AN2: I've once more had to change this author's note. While chapter 431 did state that Kakashi had died, he was resurrected in chapter 449 following the battle for Kohonagakure. Since canon did have him die briefly, I have chosen to leave this chapter up. His restoration to life was unexpected, I'll admit, but does not change my opinions on Kakashi as expressed here.

Edit (April 6, 2014): Thanks to sharp-eyed reader BlackMajjicDuchess for noticing that I hadn't changed Rin's family name there at the same time I did the other fixes. It is now Nohara Rin, instead of Inuzuka Rin.

Disclaimer: Definitely do not own.

When my time comes, forget the wrongs that I've done,
help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.

Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"

Eulogy for a Shinobi

Facets

Many words or phrases can describe Hatake Kakashi, late of Kohonagakure. A few are as follows: Son of a hero, later village disgrace; genius; Copy Nin; Sensei; pervert; liar.

Labels only, they describe only separate facets of him and make him appear to be easy to understand. Combining them, however shows a man of a complex nature, one we may never fully understand, but at least get a glimpse of who he was.

Two deaths shaped him in separate ways. The first was his father's suicide. Hatake Sakumo failed to complete a mission as ordered. His fellow shinobi were in danger, and instead of completing the mission, he decided their lives were more important, thereby costing Konoha. The village and very shinobi whose lives he had saved shunned him. Even his own son despised him. He came to believe that the only way to regain his honor was to take his own life. He did so by driving a dagger into his stomach, as in the old ways. Kakashi decided from that day that when he became a shinobi, his only priority would be the mission, and his comrades were expendable if it meant a successful completion.

A second death a few years later showed him otherwise, that while following rules are important, comrades are as well. Some things are not always black or white. During a war with Iwagakure, he and his teammates, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin were sent on a mission to destroy a bridge Iwa used. Rin was captured, and Obito wished to rescue her, while Kakashi did not believe her loss would hinder them in any way. Kakashi said if they did not follow the rules, that would make them trash. Obito shot back it would make them worse than trash if they did not make the attempt to save their comrade, and went to save her himself. Kakashi followed and lost an eye protecting him from ambush by an Iwa shinobi. Obito, realizing what Kakashi did, vowed he would one day return the favor, and thus triggered his Sharingan.

When they found Rin, they succeeded in saving her, but a heavy price was exacted. An Iwa shinobi tried to kill them using the heavy rocks of the cave hey were near. Obito saw one coming for Kakashi and pushed him out of the way, leaving himself open to getting crushed. As he was dying, he asked for his remaining eye to be transplanted into Kakashi, to replace his missing eye. This helped him perfect the move that made him famous: the Chidori. In the end though, he learned the true meaning of comradeship, and would pass on his teammate's words regarding comrades to his students when he finally became a sensei himself. He also chose to honor his teammate through adopting some of his personality, such as being late or making excuses. Obito was never forgotten through the remainder of Kakashi's life.

As the years went on, he gained the nickname for which he became widely known: Copy Nin. He joined the ANBU, one of the elite protectors of the village. Many times he was assigned to be a sensei to potential shinobi, but they would fail his test each time: the test of teamwork along with completing the mission. One day, this changed.

Three genin, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura finally passed his test, and he did his best to teach them. He made mistakes along the way, one of them focusing a bit too much on Sasuke to the detriment of his other two students at the time of the Chuunin exams. He even taught Sasuke the Chidori, failing to realize that all Sasuke saw was a potential weapon for killing his brother Itachi, and little else. He also neglected to realize that the curse seal that was placed on Sasuke by Orochimaru was seen by Sasuke as a means to that end and Sasuke would eventually use both on one of his teammates as he left the village for the power to kill Itachi, a goal in the end he did not truly accomplish.

Yes, he made mistakes as all of us do, but in the end, he made attempts to rectify them. A few years after Sasuke left, he began training Naruto in serious earnest. He made this decision to do so after hearing the results of a mission in which Naruto had been part of concerning finding out information of the Akatsuki from a spy one of them had placed with Orochimaru. After learning the level and abilities that Sasuke had, he offered to train Naruto as he was the best candidate for the type of training he had in mind. In fact, he believed that Naruto, to a certain extent would become stronger than he. This training gave Naruto a new jutsu that had the ability to surpass the Rasengan, the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken. By the time Akatsuki attacked Konoha, whatever breach had formed with his students had healed and they saw him with respect.

In the end, perhaps the best word to describe Hatake Kakashi is "hero", for during the attack on Konohagakure by Pein of the Akatsuki, he died from extreme chakra depletion using Raikagebunshin combined with his Mangekyou Sharingan in order to ensure that Akimichi Choji could reach Tsunade and inform her of Pein's powers, and perhaps find a way to stop him once and for all. He died as he lived, protecting his village and his sensei's legacy. In the end, this is all that matters.

Sayonara, Hatake Kakashi. Rest well.

And don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty,
keep me in your memory.
Leave out all the rest. Leave out all the rest.

Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"